


Maybe one day

by Dorinator



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Fix-It, Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) - Freeform, Guardians will probably help, Loki's back yay, Please I need some Thor-hugs, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Thor (Marvel) Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-05
Updated: 2019-06-17
Packaged: 2020-02-26 14:00:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18718495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dorinator/pseuds/Dorinator
Summary: "We’ll swing by when we’re done, so wait there, alright? Do we have a deal?”The raccoon stuck his hand out and raised an eyebrow expectantly.Thor took Rocket's hand into his and shook it firmly.“We have a deal.”(Or in which I call Rocket Rabbit a lot of times and Thor slowly starts getting his life back together.)





	1. It would probably be for the best

**Author's Note:**

> Wrote while sick, which is probably great.  
> Enjoy anyway!

Thanos was dead. Turned to dust, just like the Titan himself had done to half of the universe so long ago. It was an ironic end and it made Thor feel extremely amused. He briefly wondered if he should be worried about that, but decided against it. He didn’t care for much nowadays, anyway. He knew about the concept of karma, and the Titan’s end seemed to be fine proof of its existence. If only he could’ve been the one to use the gauntlet. 

Maybe he would be dead then, instead of Tony. His stomach sank every time he thought about his friend. Tony had so much to live for. Tony had a family and friends who clearly loved him. He had a daughter, a successful career and a peaceful life. Not anymore.  
Thor couldn’t help but feel guilty as he attended Tony’s funeral. Clearly it would’ve been better for him to die. At least he would’ve had the chance to do some good for the universe before dying. Besides, nobody would be left to mourn him. Sure, maybe his friends would be sad for a while (at least he hoped so), but none of them would’ve been this devastated. He had no family to leave behind. Tony’s snap hadn’t brought his loved ones back. They hadn’t turned to dust all those years ago, after all. Just to cold, emotionless, lifeless corpses. There was no miraculous returns for them.

  
Thinking these thoughts made him feel selfish. Here he was, at his friend’s funeral and he was thinking about his own problems. So he tuned them out and focused on the ceremony. After it was over, he offered his condolences to Tony’s family. They smiled at him through their tears, thanked him and told him to take care of himself. He didn’t really know why he was the one being told that when it was their family member that was dead, but he thanked them nonetheless and told them he would. A lie, but perhaps it would make them feel a bit more at ease. He said goodbye to his friends and received more sad smiles, pats on the shoulder, promises to visit sometime and even more suggestions to ‘take care of yourself’. He told them all the same lie, that he would and they didn’t need to worry.  
Thor was just leaving when he heard someone shout “Wait!” and run towards him. He turned around. It was Rabbit. Rabbit had become much happier and was clearly overjoyed to have his family back. Thor was happy for him, truly he was, but he couldn’t help but feel a tinge of jealousy. Everyone else had gotten their loved ones back but him. He wondered what he had done to make karma hate him so.

  
“Yes?” he questioned as Rabbit stopped before him, panting for air.

  
“Quill is hell-bent on finding Gamora. We’ll be repairing our ship and heading out as soon as it’s finished.”

  
Thor was quite confused on why he was being told this information. He didn’t tell Rabbit that. 

“That’s great to hear.” he said instead.

  
“Yeah. So anyway, I thought that maybe you’d like to join us? Unless you’ve got some kingly duties to attend to. The last time we visited your place it didn’t really seem to be under your rule, though.” The raccoon mumbled the last sentence under his breath but Thor heard it anyway. He tried not to take offense. It was true, after all.

  
It took a while for his brains to register the proposal. “You want me to… come with you?”

  
“Yeah, that’s what I said. Are you in or out?”

  
Thor hesitated. What of his people? Then again, as Rabbit had kindly reminded him, he hadn’t been much of a leader for the past 5 years. Perhaps… Perhaps it would be better to officially give Valkyrie the leadership. She was the one that guided the Asgardians all those years, not him.

  
“I’ll have to talk to Valkyrie about this. But what of your teammates? Have you asked for their opinion?”

  
“Not yet, didn’t have the time. I’m sure they won’t mind though.”

  
“And if they don’t want me to come with them?”

  
“Are you kidding? They love you. I swear, we almost had to invent a silencing device to stop Drax from constantly singing your praise. It was getting annoying.”

  
Now Thor was definitely confused. Loved him? When he was the reason they had turned to dust in the first place?

“But… Why would they like me?”

  
The raccoon just looked at him strangely. “Why wouldn’t they? You’re a pretty likable guy. Unless you’re talking about Quill, in which case, don’t worry about him, he just has a fragile ego and-”

  
“They turned to dust because of me.” Thor interrupted.

  
Rabbit’s look got even stranger. “Because of you? What the hell do you mean? Unless you’re Thanos in disguise I don’t see how any of that shit was your fault.”

  
It was Thor’s turn to give his friend a strange look. “I had the chance to kill him. I failed.”

  
“Seriously? You still beat up yourself over that? C’mon, we all failed. None of us could kill him in time. You are aware that literally no one else blames you but you, right?”

  
Thor wasn’t aware, and he wasn’t sure he believed it even now. Rabbit had said it with such certainty, though. None of his friends had treated him with disdain either, and had in fact still called him their friend. They had considered him a part of the team, even when he was just a pathetic alcoholic who slept through most of the planning and didn’t really contribute much. They’d even ask if he was okay, which he wasn’t, and he had always flashed a smile at them and said yes. None of them seemed like they believed him, but patted his shoulder with some variations of “Okay, big guy.” and left him alone. He still wasn’t really sure if they’d referred to his newly acquired stomach or his general size, but he didn’t really care. At least he’d felt like maybe, just maybe he wasn’t completely alone in the world.

  
“ -llo? Hellooo? Earth to Thor?” A voice broke his chain of thoughts.

  
“Hm? Sorry, what did you say?”

  
Rabbit seemed mildly annoyed that he had to repeat himself again. “C’mon dude, I’m trying to recruit you here, could you at least listen?”

  
“Sorry.”

  
“Nah, it’s fine. I said, have you made up your mind? I kinda need to run soon, Quill has been yelling at me for the past 5 minutes to ‘hurry my ass up’.”

  
Thor hadn’t even noticed, so lost in his thoughts. Yet now he could clearly hear the self-proclaimed Starlord shouting at his friend. Thor was silent for a few more minutes, thinking it over while the raccoon apparently engaged in a shouting match with his leader. Great, not distracting at all. 

  
_“C’mon Rocket, hurry up! We don’t have time to lose!”_

  
_“And just what the hell do you think is gonna happen in a few minutes? Relax, dude, the ship won’t even be in condition for a while!”_

  
_“Yeah, and you lagging behind isn’t helping!”_

  
_“Just go ahead without me, it ain’t that damn hard! I’ll be right there!”_

  
_“YOU JUST SAID THAT 5 MINUTES AGO!”_

  
_“STOP YELLING, I’M TRYING TO GET SOMETHING DONE HERE!”_

  
_“AND WHAT COULD POSSIBLY BE MORE IMPORTANT THAN GETTING OUR SHIP BACK TOGETHER?! ALSO, YOU STOP YELLING!”_  


Just when Rocket was about to launch an angry rant about how he wouldn’t be yelling if Quill wasn’t, Thor interrupted him.

  
“I’ll go with you.”

  
“WELL I WOULDN’T- wait, you will?” The raccoon now turned to Thor, ignoring his raging leader.

  
“Yes. I just have to find someone to take the charge, and I know just the person.” 

He hoped dearly that Valkyrie would accept. Maybe traveling with the Guardians would give him something to do with his life. Something to distract him from all of this. Maybe if he could get away from his miserable shack, he could one day do some good for the universe again. Maybe then he wouldn’t feel sick every time he looked out of his window simply because of how few Asgardians he saw. Simply because that just reminded him of his loss and his failures and drove him to down another bottle simply to block out those memories. Then his (or her?) people wouldn’t have to see the wreck he had become and lose their morale even more.

  
Yes, he decided, that would probably be best. For all of them.

  
His friend let out a cheerful laugh. “Awesome! You go talk to your future-leader-friend while we get the ship running again. We’ll swing by when we’re done, so wait there, alright? Do we have a deal?”  
The raccoon stuck his hand out and raised an eyebrow expectantly.

  
Thor took Rocket’s hand into his and shook it firmly.

  
“We have a deal.”


	2. Not completely alone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which ya boy is back.

After some negotiation Valkyrie had accepted to take the crown, thankfully. Perhaps she thought it was for the best too. Thor wasn't really in a position to take charge of other people's lives if he couldn't even get his own life under control, after all. 

Not long after that Rabbit had informed him that the ship was now in condition and he in turn had informed Rabbit that the crown had been passed on. To which Rabbit had informed him that the Guardians would be coming to "pick his ass up real soon" and he had asked why they needed his ass specifically. The discussion had ended on the words "We're on our way." After Rabbit had stopped laughing, that is. Which was quite a long wait. He never got an answer to his question.

Surprisingly, the whole team had been delighted to see him. Except for Quill, but they got along fine most of the time. Just insecurities, he supposed. That's what Rabbit always said, although he didn't understand why anyone would be insecure in the presence of someone like him. A sad, fat alcoholic.

At his lowest point he had asked Rabbit about it, who in response had launched into a bit awkward speech (that had somehow managed to be motivating and insulting at the same time) about how it's the inside that counts and the change in his appearance didn't make him any less of a 'kick-ass lightning god'. Even when Thor didn't think the inside of him was any better - he was still a sad, raging alcoholic- he was glad to hear Rabbit still held him in such a high regard. Even when he didn't quite understand why.

For some reason it also seemed to offend Quill whenever he called Rabbit by that name. Something about Rabbit kicking everyone's asses who called him by the wrong name. Except Thor's apparently. Thor truly didn't even know Rabbit was a wrong name. Apparently he was actually called Rocket, but Thor had gotten so used to calling him Rabbit he continued to do so. And Rabbit allowed it, which in turn offended Quill somehow.

"How come he's allowed to call you what he wants and I'm not?" Quill had asked Rabbit too many times to count.

"It's different." Was always Rabbit's answer.

"How is it different?" Thor could see Rabbit's grin grow everytime he prepared to answer the question.

"The difference is, he's cool and you're not."

This then gave Quill even more reason to be offended. Every single time this same conversation was repeated it ended with Quill pouting like a child. It was quite amusing, Thor had to admit. The rest of the team seemed to think so too.

Speaking of the team, while he truly enjoyed spending time with them, he still felt like an outsider. It wasn't because they left him out or anything. They definitely didn't. They asked for his opinion. They listened to him. He often talked about past battles with Drax, Tree often showed him his games, Rabbit often showed him whatever destructive machine he had built, Mantis excitedly talked to him basically about everything and even Quill opened up to him about Gamora once or twice before he could stop himself.

That wasn't the problem. No, he felt like an outsider because in battle he didn't know what to do. Sure, he knew how to fight, but the rest of the team had been working together for so long they had some tactics, organised attacks and so on that Thor had no idea about. He just felt... useless on the battlefield as he watched his teammates take the enemy down using some unspoken strategy he wasn't a part of.

And that's how he'd ended up here, on a lone planet that he didn't even know the name of. When they had stumbled across an unknown planet and decided that it would be better for one person to go check it out first, he had practically begged them to let him be the one to go. Just so he could feel like he was doing at least something useful. After exchanging some glances the Guardians had agreed. Even Quill. 

As he exited the ship, a familiar feeling settled into his bones. He couldn't figure out what it was, but something felt like...home. Like the home he had lost so long ago. He couldn't understand why. Asgard was gone. New Asgard was light-years away. But once he set foot on the planet it felt like there was something he'd been longing for ever since... ever since he lost the only family member he had left. He shuddered as he thought of his brother's corpse, neck broken and so cold. So incredibly cold.

"Don't think about it, just don't think about it..." he kept muttering as he pressed on. Suddenly he really wished he had a drink. Preferably a strong one. A really strong one.

After he had been walking for some time he felt a sense of being watched. Surprisingly, it wasn't an uncomfortable feeling. Not a feeling like someone was about to attack you, but more like the feeling of someone watching over you. It made him feel safe.

"Perhaps that is the trick of this planet?" He thought. "Luring people in with a false sense of security? Or perhaps-"

These thoughts were cut off when he heard a twig snap somewhere behind him. He quickly turned around, raising Stormbreaker in front of him.

"Who's there?" He called out.

No answer. He wasn't really expecting one anyway.

"Show yourself!" He called out again.

Again, silence was the only answer he got. Maybe it had been an animal after all and his shouting had scared it away. But just when he was turning to continue his investigation he heard shuffling behind a huge rock some distance away from him.

He raised his axe again, ready to defend himself. A silhouette emerged from behind the rock. A relatively small silhouette, no bigger than Thor. It was too far away to properly make out what it was and too dark to make out it's features. 

Slowly the silhouette started walking towards him. Thor stood his ground. Weirdly enough, he still didn't feel like he was in any danger. In fact, the sense of home and familiarity got stronger with each step the stranger took towards him. Perhaps it really was this planet's trick to make people feel at ease even in immediate danger.

As the stranger got closer, the clearer Thor could see him. Yes, it definitely was a him. And it seemed like a familiar him at that, somehow. It was still too dark to make out his features.

The stranger finally got close enough that his face could be seen properly. Thor's eyes widened and his axe dropped from his shaking grasp. He didn't pay any attention to that, too fixated on staring at the silhouette's face. 

It couldn't be. This can't be right. This can't be him. It's impossible. It has to be some cruel trick this damn planet has thrown at him. There's no way- no way, it's impossible...

As these thoughts raced wildly through his brain the silhouette had now stopped right in front of him. The sense of home, of security, of belonging, of family was now stronger than it had ever been on this planet.

They stared at each other in silence. Eventually Thor reached out one shaking hand, to see if it was just a trick, a trap, an illusion, if he would turn into some horrible beast upon touch or-

His hand met a solid shoulder. Nothing disappeared, no horrible beasts in sight, nothing leaping upon him to kill him, nothing. 

He was shaking even more violently now. He reached out another hand. Another solid shoulder, still no traps, no beasts, no disappearances... Could this really be true? No... No, it was impossible. This time there was no way, no way...

But as he looked into those eyes he saw all the thinly veiled emotions within, those so familiar emotions in those so familiar eyes...

He opened his mouth a couple of times to speak but no sound would come out. Eventually he managed just one word in a pitiful shaky voice, full of disbelief. One word that was so important to him.

"...Loki?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some brotherly love coming your way!

His whisper was followed by a heavy silence as they stared at each other, both seeming equally stunned. The silence dragged on for so long that Thor began to doubt this truly was just an illusion. Some kind of advanced illusion that did not disappear upon touch, that somehow felt the same as his brother had...

Until the silence was broken by an equally quiet whisper. 

"Thor?"

It sounded just like Loki. It felt just like Loki, looked just like him... and there was that overwhelming feeling of familiarity, of belonging when Loki had approached him. Could it truly be him? Had his brother somehow managed to cheat death yet again? How was it possible?

Thor had seen Thanos snap Loki's neck right in front of his eyes. He had seen the Mad Titan throw his brother's body to the ground like he was no more than trash to be disposed of. Thor had held his little brother's cold corpse as the ship exploded around him, waiting for death and oddly comforted by the fact that at least he would be joining Loki soon...

Except he hadn't. He had survived against all odds. Could it be that Loki had too?  
If that was the case, why hadn't he contacted Thor sooner? His stomach sunk when the thought struck him. Maybe... maybe Loki simply didn't want to see him again? 

But why wouldn't he? Thor thought they had been on good terms on that ship. Or at least on better terms than they had been before. On good enough terms to send some kind of message, even if it had been just a note saying 'hey, I'm alive by the way.' In fact, that seemed like something his brother would do. Either that, or an overly dramatic reveal designed to basically give Thor a heart attack.

Or maybe this was all just a dream, like it had been countless times before. Maybe he would soon wake up back in his bed, left with only the fading memory of a wishful dream.

All these terrible 'what-ifs' running through his head were interrupted by the familiar voice again.

"I see you grew your precious hair back."

Thor made a strangled sound that was somewhere between a sob and a laugh. He couldn't help it. There was just something so... Loki in that sentence. And as Loki's lips twitched upwards the small glimmer of hope grew in his heart. Maybe this wasn't a dream. Loki felt real after all. Maybe, just maybe his brother was truly standing in front of him. He had to make sure though, before he let that glimmer of hope grow too much. He couldn't bear to have that hope be misplaced.

"Brother? Is... is it truly you?"

Thor hated how much his voice shook. In fact he hated how his whole body shook. His hands on Loki's shoulders felt like the only reason he hadn't collapsed yet. Loki's mischievous smile softened slightly and he raised his own hands to hold onto Thor's.

"Yes, Thor. It's truly me."

Thor made another strangled sound. This wasn't a dream, couldn't be an illusion either. Loki's solid grip was proof enough for him. His brother was here. His little brother was alive. His little brother who he had sworn to protect all those years ago, his little brother who he had failed so many times.

Thor finally released his death grip on Loki's shoulders only to pull him into a crushing hug. Loki stiffened briefly in surprise, but soon melted into the embrace. Thor was vaguely aware that he was now sobbing. He didn't care. All that mattered was Loki. His brother, the person he had missed the most for all those miserable alcohol-filled years, was here. Alive. All those wishful dreams of a reunion that left only more despair in their wake, were now coming true.

Thor tried to ask the questions weighing heavy on his mind. (How long had his brother been here and why? How did he survive? Why hadn't he contacted Thor, or anyone else?)  
He tried, but his brothers name was all Thor could manage to get out between his sobs. Over and over again, he repeated that name, as if afraid that his brother would somehow disappear if he stopped.

Loki didn't disappear. He stood steady, arms around Thor, stroking his hair gently and murmuring soothingly just like their mother had done so long ago when one of them had been upset. She'd always managed to calm them down quicker than anyone else and often they would be running around again in a matter of minutes without even remembering what had upset them.

Thor missed her.

"Shhh, calm down, brother. It's alright, I'm here..."

Loki's voice was unusually soft and his touch was gentle, even when his movements were a bit awkward. This clearly wasn't his expertise, but Thor didn't care. Just holding his brother was enough. 

After what felt like an eternity Loki’s efforts were rewarded and Thor finally calmed down enough to form coherent sentences. And he did just that.

"How? How did you survive? How are you here? How long have you been here? And why? Why didn't you contact anyone, contact me?"

Thor could hear Loki chuckle slightly.

"One question at a time. And for heaven's sake, loosen your grip. You're crushing me, you oaf."

That was more like the Loki he remembered. Thor reluctantly let go of him.

"Sorry."

Loki ignored his apology. Now that he could see Loki’s face, Thor could swear his brother’s eyes were shining with unshed tears. He didn’t say anything and Loki cleared his throat before he began to speak.

"To answer how I survived, surely you cannot expect to mess with different timelines without any consequences. And regardless, surely you don't doubt my ability to escape, even from afterlife itself?"

Thor stared at him. This had something to do with the 'time heist', as the Man of Ants had named it? Sure, he had been told that his brother escaped with the Tesseract in a different timeline but it wasn't supposed to affect this timeline in any way. At least that's what he thought. Just when he was about to ask for more details, Loki continued.

"How long I've been here for, I don't know. I've lost count. I suspect for however long it has been since you and your friends decided to mess with timelines."

That would make it a few months, then. Thor briefly wondered how Loki had managed to survive out here on his own and how could he even know about their little 'time heist', but his brother clearly wasn't planning on taking any extra questions so he kept his mouth shut. There would be time for more questions later.

"And as to why I didn't contact anyone or why I didn't leave, I couldn't. I had no means to do either of those, no matter how much I wanted to. No one ever comes by this damn planet and I have no ship."

"You have no ship? How did you get here then?"

Loki looked uncertain. "I do not know. One minute I was dead, the next I woke up here."

Thor stared at him, eyes wide.

"Dead? You were... you were truly dead?"

"Yes, I truly died. But when has that ever held me back?"

Thor clapped his brother on the shoulder and laughed, truly laughed for the first time in a long, long time. And as his little brother grinned back, he felt that small glimmer of hope in his heart grow stronger than it had ever been for over five miserable years.

"Never."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed :)


End file.
